Field of the Disclosure
The technology of the disclosure relates generally to intelligent notification of requests for real-time online interactions.
Technical Background
As capabilities of smart endpoints continue to advance at an unprecedented pace, models of richer interaction are evolving and new models are emerging. One such model is an Internet-centric model that handles voice and video as merely another type of network flow. Browser applications available on virtually all Internet connected devices may provide a rich set of real-time media capabilities through use of real-time communications and/or markup protocols, in particular the Web Real-Time Communications standard (WebRTC) and the HyperText Markup Language 5 (HTML5). Together, WebRTC and HTML5 enable a device to establish a media flow directly with another device to enable real-time interactive video, voice, textual media, and/or data interchanges. In this manner, the Internet-centric WebRTC/HTML5 model offers real-time communications capabilities for online collaboration.
The Internet-centric WebRTC/HTML5 model is based on an offer/answer exchange paradigm for establishing a real-time communications session between two devices. In the offer/answer exchange paradigm, a first device sends an “offer” to establish a real-time communications session to a second device. The offer specifies the media types and capabilities that the first device supports and prefers for use in the real-time communications session. The second device then responds with an “answer” that indicates which of the offered media types and capabilities are supported and acceptable for the real-time communications session. Once the offer/answer exchange is complete, the devices may then establish a direct “peer connection” with one another, and may begin an exchange of media or data packets constituting the real-time communications. Such interactions operate according to a “meet me” paradigm, wherein two or more devices seeking real-time online interaction typically must access a WebRTC/HTML5 web application or other real-time-communications-enabled web application at the same time. Thus, to enable interaction between a requestor and a recipient, a notification must be sent to the recipient indicating that a real-time online interaction is desired by the requestor. However, a notification sent with no consideration as to what activity the recipient is currently, or will soon be, engaged in may result in the notification arriving at an inopportune time for the recipient. This may cause distraction, embarrassment, or aggravation on the part of the recipient.